Naval Lawyer Delivers a Kill Shot to the Left's Uproar Over Trump's Airstrikes on Narco-Terrorists

The Left is appalled by the airstrikes against narco-terrorists in the Caribbean. Democrats are mulling impeachment proceedings against Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. The memory-holing regarding this operation is amazing. It’s truly a sight to behold because no one said anything when Barack Obama executed 500 drone strikes, which killed civilians. Americans were also killed. Americans were on Obama’s kill list, also known as the ‘Disposition Matrix.’ So, please, spare us these lectures about the legality of the strikes.

Operation Southern Spear is again awash with controversy, after reports of a narco boat being bombed twice were reported. The second strike took out a bunch of terrorists who survived the first strike. No, they weren’t clinging to wreckage. They were trying to get back onto what was left of the ship and signal for assistance. We’re eliminating terror threats. The media tried to smear Hegseth as a war criminal. He is not, with these strikes vetted by civilian and military lawyers. Yet, there's another angle to this, one that liberals might not understand since they're so engulfed in Trump derangement. An attorney, formerly a Trump naval lawyer, explained it to RC Maxwell at our sister site Redstate, where he delivered the kill shot to the Left’s argument that these strikes are akin to war crimes:

As Democrats escalate their attacks in the wake of Capitol Hill briefings by U.S. Special Operations Command commander Admiral Frank M. Bradley, prominent military defense attorney and former Trump Navy lawyer Tim Parlatore told RedState that politicians are deliberately mischaracterizing lawful combat actions. In an exclusive interview, Parlatore laid out the legal distinction at the heart of the controversy...
“You have a boat full of cocaine and terrorists heading to this country to poison and kill Americans. That’s a legitimate target.” Parlatore said. “You then do battle damage assessment. The boat and the cargo remain legitimate military targets that SOUTHCOM has been ordered to put on the bottom of the ocean.” Parlatore referred to the death of drug traffickers resulting from the second strike as “collateral damage.” The comments contrast statements made on Wednesday by top Democrats immediately after viewing classified drone footage. Democrat Rep. Jim Himes (CT-4) called the video “one of the most troubling things I’ve seen in my time in public service.”
[…]
When speaking with RedState, Parlatore drew a direct historical parallel to drive the point home, citing one of the most celebrated moments in U.S. Navy history:
“Take the Battle of Midway. One of the Japanese carriers we blew up was burning, dead in the water, no longer able to fight or launch aircraft, and it was full of wounded Japanese sailors. You know what we did? We kept throwing torpedoes into it until it went to the bottom of the ocean. And that was lawful. The goal was to put the ship down so it couldn’t be towed back, repaired, and put back into the fight. The goal was not to kill all the wounded Japanese sailors on board.”
The example, Parlatore argued, shows that sinking a disabled enemy vessel, even one carrying wounded personnel, has been standard naval practice for generations and remains fully consistent with the law of armed conflict at sea.